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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ever circulated this word?
It would be possible to have circulating sarculation.
Def: Weeding with a hoe or rake.
I've lived among farmers and have never heard anyone refer to sarculation. In fact, 'laughed out of Dodge' comes to mind if I were to use the term.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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What's its origin, WW? I can't think of anything it might have come from, unless it is a corruption of circulate (the dirt).
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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there is no indication in OED that the similarity to circulation is other than happenstance. sarculate [f. ppl. stem of late L. sarculre, f. sarculum (see SARCLE).]
trans. To hoe. So sarculation rare, hoeing.
1623 COCKERAM, Sarculate, to weed. Sarculation, a weeding. 1733 TULL Horse-Hoeing Husb. vii. 62 Their Sarculation was used but amongst small Quantities of sown Corn.
speaking of happenstance, the wwftd theme this week appears to be words that sound like something that they really aren't; but on second thought... http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/btw, sarcle is a hoe; to sarcle is to weed with a hoe, or sarculate. where did you dig this one up, Wordgrub?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Where did I dig this one up, tsumw? Why, reading a dictionary, of course!
I'm delighted you and Jackie responded to my post because I had thought no one on earth here was interested in agrarian words. Thanks to both of you! Doctor Bill, too, PM'd me, so thanks to Bill.
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Joined: Oct 2003
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 389 |
A few years ago I worked for a woman who also had a love for words. As we were waiting for one of the old style dot matrix printers to finish printing, she mentioned this word.
Boustrophedon (from Greek for ox-turning) is writing that proceeds in one direction in one line (such as from left to right) and then in the reverse direction in the next line (such as from right to left). Some ancient languages, including one form of ancient Greek (650 BC), were written this way. The term derives from the way one would plow land with an ox, turning the ox back in the other direction at the end of a row. (It could be argued that boustrophedon is a more efficient way to both write and read, especially if your lines are very long.)
Some types of printers and their software print in this fashion (although the results, of course, are lines that are read in only one direction).
I never forgot it, (unusual in itself). I Googled the word and found the above - and how to meet hot singles, but I only pursued the former.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I like reading that way...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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strange new words I relish
like nectar or tonic
I now know my line printer
is boustrophedonic
David P. Stern
Science magazine
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh, thank you thank you thank you! I LOVE that little poem!! I was going to LIU, but you saved me the trouble. [blowing kiss]
Um--what's oxine, please?
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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guess: meant to be like bovine, porcine, equine, etc.
but I don't think that's quite right for oxen..
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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No, no, that would be oxalic...
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